Concerned about Mimicking.... - Autism Spectrum Message Board

Amapeli · 04-05-2004, 08:50 AM

Hello everyone!

I am new to the board and have a son (MJ) with PDD-NOS. He was just diagnosed with the school system in December and has started special needs preschool. He also goes to a NT preschool. He just turned 4 years old in the last couple of weeks.

My question to you is my concern about his mimicking in social situations. When he is on the playground with other kids he will follow them and mimick their actions. He also has echolalia but will not say much around them. They ask his name and he will say "What is your name?" Sometimes it will bother the kids and they come up to me and ask why he is following them.

Lately I have noticed that he has been mimicking a little girl at preschool who has angelman syndrome. Also a few weeks ago we were at the dentist and he mimicked the whole wait an 18 month year old. I think he thinks that is how he is supposed to communicate with kids.

Have any of you had this happen? What has been your experience with this? Is it good? It seems odd to me. Does it say anything about his cognitive abilities? He seems very smart - memorizing numbers to 50. He also has known alphabet and shapes, colors. He will see shapes in objects. He just doesn't understand how to have a conversation back and forth. He will usually answer with 2 to 3 words. That has been a milestone to have him answer a question. He used to just echolalia. He has been going to speech 40 mins a week at school and is currently going through testing for OT.

matt'smom · 04-11-2004, 07:48 PM

Hi Amapeli, I am new too, and I have a 2 year, 8 month old son who is just going through the evaluation process too. Through his first two (cognitive and speech evals), both of the evaluators mentioned his fleeting eye contact, and his repetative behaviors (he would not get off of the shape puzzle, he loves shapes). His speech is at the level of a 1 year 8 month old. He does talk, and can make his needs known, but he cannot answer simple questions, not even yes or no. He is very comfortable at home, and laughs and plays with his siblings, but not at school, and not when his same age cousins come to visit. He rocks back and forth when in a new situation, but he loves to hug and receive kissses. I have been told by someone that he seems to be mildly autistic. Since you have been through the process already, how does it sound to you? He is scheduled for a nuerologist in a month. I don't know if I can wait until then. I think he is fine, and will catch up, but I am not a doctor. Can someone give me any input? Thanks

matt'smom · 04-11-2004, 07:48 PM

Hi Amapeli, I am new too, and I have a 2 year, 8 month old son who is just going through the evaluation process too. Through his first two (cognitive and speech evals), both of the evaluators mentioned his fleeting eye contact, and his repetative behaviors (he would not get off of the shape puzzle, he loves shapes). His speech is at the level of a 1 year 8 month old. He does talk, and can make his needs known, but he cannot answer simple questions, not even yes or no. He is very comfortable at home, and laughs and plays with his siblings, but not at school, and not when his same age cousins come to visit. He rocks back and forth when in a new situation, but he loves to hug and receive kissses. I have been told by someone that he seems to be mildly autistic. Since you have been through the process already, how does it sound to you? He is scheduled for a nuerologist in a month. I don't know if I can wait until then. I think he is fine, and will catch up, but I am not a doctor. Can someone give me any input? Thanks

KathleenW · 04-11-2004, 08:19 PM

Well, it sounds like you are on the right track by doing his speech and cognitive evaluations and making an appointment with a pediatric neurologist. I really worry when parents say that their children will just catch up. I think the best thing to do is to start working on your child's weak areas instantly. Is he currently in speech therapy? One of the number one indicators of autism is not pointing to things. Will he point to things with his index finger? Since he is interested in shapes, when you are working on a puzzle together and say point to the triangle or give me the triangle can he do it?

When my child was diagnosed with PDD I began speech therapy three times a week. Four months later I began an ABA program. The ABA program just made everything click. I think a huge percentage of children with autism will be able to "catch up", but only if they have early intervention. Children's brains have not fully developed, so if your child is under four they will be able to learn very quickly and much easier than a child that is older. I wish you and your child the best of luck.

Amapeli · 04-12-2004, 10:00 AM

Hello Matt's Mom,
I agree with Kathleen that you are on the right track. Have you tried Early Intervention? I would get him evaluated. That is the road I took because my gut feeling told me something was off even though my family doctor said he would grow out of it and just needed to mature. He also mentioned that a lot of boys are late talkers. The problem was when he did talk it was echolalic. It was effecting our lives that I couldn't go anywhere with him and he was lashing out at me. I felt like I was walking on eggshells all the time with him. What you mentioned are a lot of autistic tendencies (rocking or stimming, fleeting eye contact, repetative behaviors) but that doesn't neccessarily mean that he is autistic. They have to have a marked degree of impairment. When we did our testing they had a score at the end. He was right below "autistic" which meant that he qualified for PDD-NOS diagnosis since he had a language delay. His points also had to be high enough for that diagnosis. My husband also has some autistic-like characteristics but he is not autistic (well, he might be mild asperger or have sensory disfunction). I also have some ADD characteristics but I am not marked enough to have a formal diagnosis. The only reason that I got a diagnosis on Mikey was so I could get some services for him. He needed speech therapy and OT for sensory issues. I am glad that I did because it is helping a lot. His speech has improved so much that he is answering a question (started around January). He still has his echolalic moments. A teacher in church commented yesterday that maybe he has a misdiagnosis because he is doing so well and is sitting in the chairs during singing time. He still wanders the halls with his aide during Sunday school part of the time. If it weren't for the help in dealing with the problems he would have never been that far along. The teacher just sees him now and not what he would have been without intervention.